283
ISSN 1392−1207. MECHANIKA. 2022 Volume 28(4): 283−293
Profile Design and Performance Research of Hydrogen Circulation
Pump in Fuel Cell System
Huanle ZHAI*,**, Wei LI*,***, Leilei JI*,****, Muhammad AWAIS*, Jiwei LI**, Shuo LI*
*National Research Center of Pumps, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China, E-mail: lwjiangda@ujs.edu.cn
**Aviation Engineering Institute, Jiangsu Aviation Technical College, 212134, China, E-mail: jszhaihl@163.com
***Institute of Fluid Engineering Equipment Technology, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212009, China,
E-mail: lwjiangda@ujs.edu.cn
****Wenling Fluid Machinery Technology Institute of Jiangsu University, Wenling 317525, China,
E-mail: leileiji@ujs.edu.cn
http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j02.mech.31528
Nomenclature
L – the length of the pump cavity; B – the width of the pump
cavity; D – the height of the pump cavity; Rm – the tip radius
of the rotor profile; R – the pitch radius of the rotor profile;
δ1 – the gap between rotor and pump casing; δ2 – the gap
between the two rotors; n – the number of rotor blades; α –
the envelope angle of the curve I; Pd – the outlet pressure of
the hydrogen circulating pump; Ps – the inlet pressure of the
hydrogen circulating pump; Qd – the outlet flow rate of the
hydrogen circulating pump;
Abbreviation
HCP – hydrogen circulating pump; P Tra. – pressure trans-
mitter; T Tra. – temperature transmitter; MF – mass flow-
meter.
1. Introduction
Fuel cell technology can meet the needs of society
for clean energy and renewable energy with excellent devel-
opment prospects [1-2]. During the working process of the
fuel cell system, the high content of water generated by the
combination of hydrogen ions and oxygen ions will hinder
the gas diffusion, resulting in a decrease in the output volt-
age of the stack. The accumulation of impurity gas penetrat-
ing from the cathode side to the anode will also affect the
performance and life span of the stack. For the problems of
water blocking and gas permeation, the cathode discharge
method is usually used to discharge the generated water and
accumulated impurity gas inside the stack. However, if the
discharge frequency is too low, it is easy to cause water
blockage and accumulation of impurity gas, which will lead
to the decline of the stack’s performance. If the discharge
frequency is too high, a large amount of hydrogen will be
discharged, which wastes hydrogen and brings potential
dangers [3-5]. Therefore, it is necessary to use hydrogen re-
cycling equipment to recover unconsumed hydrogen from
the anode and transport it back to the stack inlet to improve
the hydrogen utilization efficiency and optimize the life and
performance of the fuel cell stack, as shown in Fig. 1.
Hydrogen recirculation equipment mainly includes
two types, ejector and mechanical pump. The recirculation
equipment can be used individually or in parallel. The ejec-
tor uses the pressure difference between the hydrogen tank
and the fuel cell stack as the driving force. It has the ad-
vantages of the low maintenance cost, no moving parts, and
the efficiency is relatively high [6-7]. The disadvantage is
that when the fuel cell on and off or changes the load, its
working stability is difficult to guarantee, especially in the
low power region [8]. According to their structure, mechan-
ical pumps can be divided into claw pumps, roots pumps,
and scroll pumps. The claw pump is a rotary positive dis-
placement pump with built-in compression, which has the
advantages of a compact and straightforward structure [9].
However, its disadvantage of large fluctuations in output
pressure and flow [10]. The scroll pump works through the
meshing of two scrolls with close clearance, which has the
advantages of high efficiency, wide adjustable range of
flow, low noise, and small vibration [11-12]. However, due
to their low operating rates, scroll pumps have lower flow
rates than comparably sized Roots or claw pumps and are
therefore only suitable for micro or small systems [13]. The
Roots pump is also a rotary positive displacement pump,
which carries gas by rotating a pair of rotors with cogging
grooves. It has the advantages of simple structure, high reli-
ability, low cost, suitable for large flow, and has the disad-
vantage of low efficiency [14]. Since high reliability, large
flow, and low cost are more essentialfactors in practical ap-
plications. Therefore. the Roots pump structure is a good
choice for the fuel cell hydrogen recirculation systemand
has been used in the fuel cell vehicle field. Feng Jianmei
[15] studied the performance of the Roots hydrogen pump
with a three-blade helical rotor structure through extensive
simulations and experimental verification. They found that
the volumetric efficiency and isentropic efficiency were im-
proved with the increased fraction of water vapor and nitro-
gen. Jiawei Lin [16] designed an efficient and reasonable
rotor profile for the Roots hydrogen pump, used the motion
simulation module in UG NX to conduct a simulation anal-
ysis of rotor mechanism meshing motion on the rotating
parts, and obtained the angular velocity curve and meshing
force change curve of the driven gear. Xing Linfen [17] has
proved through experiments that the effect of the pressure
difference on the flow rate and volumetric efficiency of the
Roots pump is the most significant. The leakage has a major
influence on volumetric isentropic efficiency.
The above literature is only for performance anal-
ysis of Roots hydrogen pumps with several conventional
profiles, and no in-depth research on profile design theory.
Profile design is the basis of Roots hydrogen pump design,
which impacts volumetric efficiency, leakage rate, running
stability, etc. It hasessentialresearch significance. Consider-
ing that the Roots structure is widely used in vacuum pumps,
fans, and other fields, related profile design research results
 284

can be used as a reference. For the involute rotor profile, Cur.Ⅱ y2

although reducing the pressure angle reduces the area utili- y1 O'2
Cur.Ⅰ
zation factor, it increases the degree of coincidence and im- M
θ
proves the stability and bearing capacity of the rotor trans- N ×2
mission [18]. The two-tangent-arcs rotor profile also hasa O1 ON O2
high area utilization coefficient, and uniform meshing gap θ 2
and isnot easy to leak [19]. Inserting a high-order curve be- ×1
tween the involute and the arc can effectively eliminate the O1' 2R N1
cusp phenomenon, thereby improving the "pulsation" at the
output [20]. Multi-compound ellipse-involute-ellipse and Fig. 2 Conjugate curve meshing principle
corresponding conjugate curves have a higher volume utili-
zation rate and improve hydraulic oil delivery efficiency According to the angular velocity values of the
[21]. Zhang Tiezhu and Zhang Hongxinet al. [22-23] used curve I and the curve II being equal, it can be deduced that
the rotor shape parameter as a variable to achieve the objec- the distance O1O1 is equal to the distance O2O2 .
tive design of minimizing the cavity volume under the con-
straint of the cavity structure strength. Chiu-Fan et al. [24] dO1O1 = dO1M  cosMO1O1 = dO2 M 
established the profile by the trajectory of the long axis end- cosMO2 O2 = dO2O2 . (2)
point of the elliptical roller rolling around the arc, and ob-
tained the relationship between the ellipse axis ratio param-
It follows that point O is the midpoint of the line O1
eter and the flow characteristics. Yan Jia et al. [25] used the
O2 .
deviation function method to correct the involute rotor pro-
file to achieve the effect of high sealing and high efficiency. dO1O = dO2O = R. (3)
Based on the previous research, this paper pro-
poses the general design formula of the rotor profile of the
hydrogen circulating pump, which can realize the design of Therefore, when the curve I and its conjugate curve II
various types of shapes. Then the calculation method based are in rotational meshing, the connection between the mesh-
on the overset mesh and the realizable k-epsilon two-layer ing point and the midpoint of the line O1 O2 is the common
turbulence model is determined, and experiments verify its normals of the two curves at the meshing point.
reliability. Finally, the performance differences of two- 2.2. Theoretical profile design method
phase tangent arc type, single-arc type, ellipse type, and
quadratic-curve type are analyzed to determine the optimal To solve the conjugate curve II from the curve I,
profile. denote the equation of curve I in the moving coordinate sys-
Water Water
tem x1O1y1 as L1, and the equation of curve II in the moving
separator separator coordinate system x2O2y2 as L2.
Discharge
As the rotation angle θ changes, the trajectory of
Water
point M in the moving coordinate system x2O2y2 forms the
Hydrogen
Pump curve II. The coordinates of point M in the moving coordi-
circulation nate system x1O1y1 can be transformed into the moving co-
equipment
Hydrogen Water
tank
ordinate system x2O2y2 through the coordinate transfor-
tank
mation matrix A.
P Tra. P Tra.

 xi ( t ) 
Control
valve Anode Stacks Cathode Compressor
 
Air Li =  yi ( t )  ( i = 1, 2 ) , (4)
 1 
Fig. 1 Supply system of hydrogen fuel cell

2. Rotor profile design method y1 ( t ) t Rcos − x1 ( t )

 = . (5)
2.1. Conjugation theory
t x1 ( t ) y1 ( t ) − Rsin

As shown in Fig. 2, the curve I rotates clockwise Under the rotation angle θ, according to the line
around the origin O1. The curve II is the conjugate curve I OM is the normals of the curve I at the point M, it can be
and rotates counter clockwise around the origin O2 with the determined that the coordinates of the point M in the mov-
same angular velocity. When the rotation angle is θ, the ing coordinate system x1O1y1 satisfy Eq. (5).
curve I and the curve II are tangent at point M, with the nor- Further derivation, we get:
mals passing through this point intersecting the line O1 O2
at point O. x1 ( t ) y1 ( t )
cos + sin =
At point M, the running speeds of curve I and curve t t
II are  MN1 and vMN 2 respectively. Only when the compo- 1 y1 ( t ) x ( t ) 
=  y1 ( t ) + x1 ( t ) 1  . (6)
nents of the two running speeds on the normals OM are R t t 
equal can the two curves be tangent at point M.
Combined with formula (6), the equation L2 of the
vMN1  cosNMN1 = vMN 2  cosNMN 2 . (1) curve II in the moving coordinate system x2O2y2 can be der-
 285

ived.  L1rel = L1 − 

 cos 2 sin 2 −2 Rcos   L2rel = A ( L1 +  )
 2n 
A =  − sin 2 cos 2 2 Rsin  , (7) 

 
 0 0 1    2 m2 + n2  . (11)

 =  − 2 m 
  
  x1 ( t ) cos 2 + y1 ( t ) sin 2 − 2 Rcos  2 m + n 
2 2

     
 L2 = AL1 =  − x1 ( t ) sin 2 + y1 ( t ) cos 2 + 2 Rsin 
0
  
  1    

  m k
  −arctan n + arcsin ( n  0)
 =  m + n2
2 3. Structural design and numerical simulation
 
  − arctan m + arcsin k
( n  0) 3.1. Design conditions
 
 n m + n2
2 . (8)
 Regarding the existing HCP product structure in
m = x1 ( t ) the current market, the number of rotor blades and design
 t conditionsare determined. The specific parameters are

 y1 ( t ) shown in Table 1.
n = t Table 1
 Design conditions
 1 y1 ( t ) x1 ( t ) 
k = R  y1 ( t ) t + x1 ( t ) t  Parameters Value
   The length of the pump cavity L, mm 111
The width of the pump cavity B, mm 66
2.3. Actual profile design method The height of the pump cavity D, mm 60
The gap between the rotor and the pump casing δ1, mm 0.1
The formulas derived above are used for theoreti- The gap between the two rotors δ2, mm 0.1
cal rotor profile design without considering the gap between Number of rotor blades n (envelope angle α) 2(π/4)
components. However, in the actual profile design, to re- L
duce friction, a certain gap must be developed between the
rotorsor between the rotors and the pump casing. At the be- Rm Cur.Ⅱ rel
ginning of the design, the length L, width B of the pump
cavity, the gap δ1 between the rotors and the pump casing, Cur.Ⅰ
δ1
and the gap δ2 between the rotors should be defined first, as
shown in Fig. 3.
R
From these known dimensions, determine the tip
B

radius Rm and pitch radius R of the rotor profile. δ2

B 
Rm = − 1 + 2 , (9) Cur.Ⅰ rel
2 2
Fig. 3 Actual profile design
L−B
R= . (10)
2 3.2. Designing process

Then according to the theoretical curve seg- The curve I of the rotor profile designed in this pa-
ment I, calculate the curve segment Irel and IIrel of per is composed of two-tangent-arcs, with the formula as
the actual rotor profile. follows:

   Rm − r1 + r1cost 
   0t 
  r1 sint  ( )
  1 
 L1 = 
   k1 + r2 cost   
   k + r sint     t   -arcsin  Rsin − k2  
  2 2   
     r2  . (12)
 
 1
 k1 = Rm − r1 + r1cos − r2 cos

 k2 = r1 sin − r2 sin

 r = ( Rm − r1 + r1cos − Rcos ) + ( Rsin − r1sin )
2 2

2 2  Rm cos − r1cos + r1 − Rcos (  −  ) 


 286

In the formula, r1 is the radius of the top arc, whic
h is a variable parameter, and the value here is 32.9, that is
the value of Rmrel; γ is the angle between the centerline of th
e top arc and the radial line of the tangent point, which is al
so a variable parameter, and the value here is π/12. Substit-
ute L1 into formula (11), and then combine the correspondi
ng relationship of each parameter in formula (8) to complet
e the calculation of the rotor profile formula. The final dra-
wn rotor structure is shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 Rotor structure

3.3. Numerical calculation method gen circulating pump, set the inlet boundary type of the
model as pressure inlet and the outlet boundary type as pres-
3.3.1. Turbulence model sure outlet, and put all boundaries to 300K adiabatic condi-
tion.
The turbulence model used in this paper is the re-
alizable k-epsilon two-layer model, which combines the  ( k )    
standard k-epsilon model with the two-layer method. This +   (  kv ) =     + t  k  +
model is more suitable for low Reynolds number type t   k  
meshes or wall function type meshes and can better simulate + Pk −  (  −  0 ) + Sk , (13)
various flows in the whole flow field [26]. The main gov-
erning equations of the realizable k-epsilon two-layer turbu-
 (  )    
+   (  v ) =     + t
lence model are shown in Eqs. (13) and (14), where the
   +
model coefficients σk = 1, σε = 1.2, Cε1 = 1.44, Cε2 = 1.9. t     
3.3.2. Boundary conditions 1   
+ C 1 P − C 2 f 2   − 0  + S . (14)
Te  Te T0 
According to the actual working state of the hydro-

Fig 5 Grid model

3.3.3. Meshing
Considering that the relative motion gap is only 0.1
mm, this paper adopts the overset mesh method for simula-
tion calculation. The overset mesh method couples the two
regions by exchanging data between the acceptor grid cells
in the background region and the donor grid cells in the
overlapping region. The pump cavity is denoted as region
A, and the two rotors extend a certain distance from the pro-
file surface to be indicated as regions B and C, respectively.
Three region couplings need to be set, namely A as the back-
 287

ground region to couple with B and C, and B as the back- model under the two media is similar, and the experimental
ground region to couple with C. As shown in Fig. 5, the grid and numerical comparison research can be carried out by
model of region A contains 2.0 million grids, the grid mod- replacing the hydrogen medium with the air medium.
els of regions B and C include 0.4 million grids respectively,
the inlet section contains 21 thousand grids. The outlet sec- Simulation（Air） Simulation（H2）
tion contains 45 thousand grids. The STAR-CCM software 1,4

Pressure Ratio Pd/Ps

is used for the simulation calculation of the mesh model.
The software requires at least 4 element layers in the over- 1,3
lapping area to achieve accurate calculation. For the grid
model in this paper, the number of element layers in the 1,2
overlapping area of region A and region B/C at the motion
gap is 5, and the number of element layers in the overlap- 1,1
ping area of region B and region C at the motion gap is 6.
The mesh density meets the precision calculation require- 1
ments of the STAR-CCM software. 40 45 50 55 60
Discharge Qd (m3/h)
4. Calculation results and experimental verification
Fig. 6 Hydrogen circulating pump flow characteristics
4.1. Simulation results for different media
4.2. Test system construction and experimental verification
Set the running speed to 6000 rpm, the fluid me-
dium to be hydrogen or air, and the pressure ratio Pd/Ps to To build the test system, to accurately measure the
be 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4, respectively. According to the flow rate of the HCP, flow sensors are installed at the inlet
above method, the simulation calculation is carried out for and outlet. The processdiagram and physical picture are
the 8 working conditions of the model. The calculation re- shown in Figs. 7 and 8. The control valve at the end is used
sults are shown in Fig 6. Under different pressure ratios, the to adjust the outlet pressure of the hydrogen pump, to meas-
average volume flow rate Qd in the hydrogen medium is ure the corresponding relationship between the flow rate and
slightly lower than that in the air medium. The maximum the pressure ratio. Considering that hydrogen is a flammable
error is 3.6 %, and the minimum is 0.8 %. The calculation and combustible gas in the environment, air medium is used
results show that the Qd of the hydrogen circulating pump for performing experiments.
T Tra. P Tra.
HCP
MF AC

T Tra. P Tra.

Silencer Control
Valve MF

Fig. 7 Test system process diagram

Fig. 8 Test system physical picture

 288

The comparison between the simulation calculatio The formula of the curve I for the 3# rotor is:
n and experimental results of the hydrogen circulating pum
p model in the air medium is shown in Fig. 9. It is found th   x0 + k1cost 
at the simulated Qd of the same pressure ratio is greater tha      Rsin  
n the experimental value. As the pressure ratio increases, th  L1 =  k2 sint   0  t  arcsin  k  
  1    2 
e error between the two values increases from small to larg

e. The error under the 1.1 pressure ratio is 3.6 % and grows k1 = Rm − x0
to 10.0 % under the 1.4 pressure ratio. Analyzing the phen  Rsin
. (16)
omenon that the error becomes larger, it is found that comp k2 =
ared with the adiabatic boundary set in the simulation, the t   Rcos − x0 
2

emperature of the pump body increases significantly with t  1−  

  k1 
he increase of the pressure ratio during the experiment. At t 
he 1.1 pressure ratio, the pump body temperature is 296 K  0
x = 5 ( x0 is a parameter with adjustable value)
and rises to 360 K at the 1.3 pressure ratio. Set the simulate
d adiabatic boundary temperature to 360 K, and obtain an e The formula of the curve I for the 4# rotor is:
rror of 3.88 % at the pressure ratio of 1.3. It can be seen tha
t when the pressure ratio is high, the high temperature of th
  Rm − kt 2 
e pump body causes the volume of the intake air to expand,   
resulting in a smaller standard volume flow rate at the out-  L1 =  t  ( 0  t  Rsin )
  1 
let. Therefore, the simulation calculation under the low-pre   
. (17)
ssure ratio can directly replace the experimental research w 
ork and needs to consider the influence of temperature rise  k = Rm − Rcos
under the high-pressure ratio.  R 2 sin 2
Simulation（Air） Test（Air）
1,4 Substitute the corresponding L1 of the 2#, 3#, and
Pressure Ratio Pd / Ps

4# rotors into the formula (11), and then complete the for-
1,3 mula calculation and graph drawing according to the corre-
sponding relationship of the parameters in the formula (8).
1,2 The structure and shape comparisons of the four profiles are
shown in Fig. 10.
1,1 1# 2#
1#
1
40 45 50 55 60
Qd (m3/h) 2#
Fig. 9 Comparison of experimental and simulation data
3# 4#
5. Performance analysis of different rotor profiles
3#
5.1. Profile shape
4#
The fluid characteristics corresponding to the rotor
profiles of various shapes are also distinct for the hydrogen
circulating pump. To analyze the difference and obtain
arotor profile with better fluid characteristics, three new ro- Fig. 10 Comparison of four-rotor profiles
tor profiles have been designed according to the profile de-
sign method, and the conditions are given above. The curves 5.2. Theoretical flow
I of the three profiles are single-arc, ellipse, and quadratic-
The HCP models corresponding to 1#, 2#, 3#, and
curve, respectively. For the convenience of description, the
4# rotors are called 1#, 2#, 3#, and 4# models, respectively.
rotor designed according to the two-tangent-arcs above is
Calculate the displacement of the four models, and calculate
denoted as 1# rotor. The current rotors designed according
the theoretical flow according to the rotation speed of
to single-arc, ellipse, and quadratic-curve are designated as
6000rpm. The results are shown in Table 2. According to
2#, 3#, and 4# rotors, respectively. The formula of the curve
the calculation results, the theoretical flow rate of the 1#
I for 2# rotor is:
model to the 4# model increases in turn. The smallest 1#
model is 70.0 m3/h, and the largest 4# model is 74.7 m3/h.
 b + rcost 
     Rsin  
 L1 =  rsint   0  t   -arcsin  r   5.3. Simulation results
 

  1  
 . (15) Set the fluid medium as hydrogen, the running
b = Rm2 − R 2 speed as 6000 rpm, and the pressure ratio Pd/Ps as 1. The
 2 Rm − 2 Rcos simulation is performed according to the previous simula-
 tion calculation method, and the obtained flow characteris-
r = Rm − b
 tics are shown in Fig. 11.
 289

Table 2 amplitudes are roughly the same.

Theoretical flow comparison Calculate the average flow rate Qd of the four mod-
Model Cross-sectional area of a Displacement, Theoretical
els according to the flow waveform, and get the value of the
No. single rotor, mm2 mL/r flow rate m3/h 1# rotor is 63.16 Nm3/h, of the 2# model is 64.76 Nm3/h, of
1# 1781 194.3 70.0 the 3# model is 66.07 Nm3/h, and of the 4# model is 66.34
2# 1734 200.0 72.0 Nm3/h. It can be found that the simulated Qd of the 1# to 4#
3# 1698 204.3 73.5 models increases in turn, which is the same as the theoretical
4# 1672 207.4 74.7 flow rate, and each simulation value is approximately 90%
of the theoretical value.
1# 2# 3# 4# To analyze the change of pressure distribution and
85 velocity distribution inside the pump chamber during the ro-
80 tor operation, one fluctuation period is divided into 6 states,
75 with the adjacent angle being18º, as shown in Figs. 12
Qd (Nm3/h)

70 and 13.
65 Analyze the pressure changes of the four models in
a flow fluctuation period. For 1# model, the maximum pres-
60
sure is 476 Pa at 90º, the minimum pressure is 189 Pa at 54º;
55 for 2# model the maximum pressure is 235 Pa at 18º, the
50 minimum pressure is 57.3 Pa at 72º; for 3# model, the max-
45 imum pressure is 637 Pa at 0º, the minimum pressure is 26
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pa at 36º; for 4# model, the maximum pressure is 1570 Pa
Time (ms) at 90º, and the minimum pressure is 57.6 Pa at 36º. It can be
Fig. 11 Comparison of flow characteristics of four models seen that the 2# model has the smallest pressure pulsation,
the 4# model has the largest, the 1# model and the 3# model
From the analysis of the flow waveform, the HCP are in the middle level, and the 1# model is slightly better
model runs one cycle in 10ms, forming four flow fluctuation than the 3# model. The maximum pressure of the four mod-
periods. The 1# model has the fluctuation range and the els in the six states is generally located at the outlet of the
most complex waveform. The fluctuation of the 2# model is contact between the two rotors, and the minimum value is
relatively stable, and the flow waveform is the simplest. The generally located at the inlet of the contact between the two
flow waveforms of the 3# and 4# models are similar, and the rotors.

1# 2# 3# 4#

0º

18º

36º
 290

54º

72º

90º

Fig. 12 Pressure distribution changes for the four models

1# 2# 3# 4#

0º

18º
 291
36º
54º
72º
90º
Fig. 13 Velocity distribution changes for the four models
Analyze the velocity changes of the four models in
a flow fluctuation period. The velocity pulsation and the av-
erage velocity of the 2# model are both the smallest, with
the maximum velocity at the state of 36º.The two values of
the 4# model are both the largest, with significantly higher
flow velocity at the two states of 0º and 90º.Similarly, the
situation of the 1# model and the 3# model is in the middle
level, but the 3# model is better than the 1# model. Both
models have relatively high flow rates at 0º and 90º.The
flow rates of the four models at 36º and 54º differ very little.
Based on the above comparison, it can be seen that
the 1# model is not the best choice because the average flow
rate is the smallest, the flow rate pulsation is the largest, and
the pressure pulsation and flow rate pulsation are not opti-
mal. Although the 4# model's average flow rate is the larg-
est, its pressure pulsation and flow rate pulsation are signif-
icantly higher than those of the other three models, resulting
in the worst flow stability, so the 4# rotor profile is also not
the best choice. Analyze the 2# model and the 3# model,
which have their advantages in terms of average flow and
flow stability. The advantage of the 3# model in average
flow rate is small, but the disadvantages in pressure pulsa-
tion, flow waveform, and flow velocity pulsation are larger.
So it is judged that the 2# rotor profile is the best choice, and
the 3# rotor profile is the second.
 292
6. Conclusion
This paper proposes a general design method for
the rotor profile of the hydrogen circulating pump, compares
the data difference between air medium and hydrogen me-
dium, and experiments using two-tangent-arcs rotor. Fi-
nally, the fluid characteristics of four types of rotors are an-
alyzed, and the optimal profile is determined.
1. According to the conjugation principle, the gen-
eral formula for the rotor profile design of the hydrogen cir-
culating pump is summarized, which can be used to design
the rotor profile of various shapes.
2. Using the overset mesh method and the realiza-
ble k-epsilon two-layer turbulence model to simulate the
fluid characteristics of the hydrogen circulating pump, the
average volume flow error of hydrogen medium and air me-
dium is small. Compared with the experiment, this simula-
tion method has high reliability at a low-pressure ratio. The
influence of ambient temperature needs to be considered at
a high-pressure ratio.
3.Evaluating the average flow rate and flow stabil-
ity of four types of rotors, including two-tangent-arcs, sin-
gle-arc, ellipse, and quadratic-curve, it is found that the
overall performance of the single-arc rotor is the best, fol-
lowed by the elliptical arc rotor, the quadratic-curve rotor
has the largestaverage flow but the worst flow stability, and
the two-tangent-arcs rotor has the smallest average flow.
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H. Zhai, W. Li, L. Ji, M. Awais, J. LI, S. Li
PROFILE DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE RESEARCH
OF HYDROGEN CIRCULATION PUMP IN FUEL
CELL SYSTEM
Summary
A general design formula for rotor profile is pro-
posed based on conjugation theory and feasibly verified by
using the four different design shapes. The overset mesh
method and the realizable k-ε two-layer turbulence model
are used for simulation calculation. The results stated that
the average volume flow error of hydrogen medium and air
This article is an Open Access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
medium is small, so an alternative experimental study has
been carried out. By building a test system for experimental
verification, it is found that the error between the simulation
results and the experimental results is small at the low-pres-
sure ratio and increases at the high-pressure ratio because
the influence of the ambient temperature is not considered.
The results further verified the reliability using the simula-
tion calculation method. At last, the fluid characteristics of
the two-tangent-arcs type, single-arc type, ellipse type, and
quadratic-curve type rotors are evaluated. The result shows
that the comprehensive performance of the single-arc type
rotor is superlative as followed by the ellipse type rotor.
However, the quadratic-curve rotor has the largest average
flow but the worst flow stability and the two-tangent-arcs
rotor shows the smallest average flow.
Keywords: fuel cell system, hydrogen circulation pump
(HCP), profile design, overset mesh, CFD.
Received May 31, 2022
Accepted August 24, 2022